"For Negroes in South Carolina the era represented the first time in which steady resistance to the system showed a prospect of becoming something more than random hostility. But the odds against successful assertion were overwhelming; it was slightly too late, or far too soon for realistic thoughts of freedom among black Americans." .
In his book Black Majority, Peter Woods states that "it was slightly too late, or far too soon for realistic thoughts of freedom among black Americans." The Stono Rebellion signified the growing sense of aggression in blacks during the mid eighteenth century. Several factors played a significant role in the timing of the Stono Rebellion. Words of hostility between the English and Spanish reached slaves in Charleston, providing the first spark for rebellion. The blacks jumped at this opportunity, and hastily killed many whites, including women and children, on their way to St. Augustine. However, I think that the Africans underestimated the factors going against them during this time of rebellion and that Woods is correct in saying that "it was slightly too late" for realistic thoughts of freedom. .
At the start of the eighteenth century, the status of blacks and their hope for freedom was much more promising than at the time of the Stono Rebellion. As the pioneer frontier began, rice production took a permanent stance in the emerging economy, and as a result, the Africa population equaled, and then surpassed that of the Europeans and Native Americans. Black labor, for several reasons, prevailed during the early stages of pioneer life. For one, the African slaves did not blend in well with the rest of the settlers. They were identified easily by their color and were returned to their masters if caught escaping. Unlike white or Indian labor, blacks were far away enough from their homeland not to run away, or for bad word of their condition to filter back.
